F ebruary 02,1994 • T he P ortland O bserver P age B4 (Llie (©bsertter {EbpÿiirtlaniKObôcvDcr PCC Celebrates Black History Month at 7 p.m. O ther activities for the month include a “ Rap Forum ” that fea­ tures local RAP artists (LOVA, U-CREW and LEE DOG PR O ­ DUCTIO NS). The forum will a l­ low for discussion on how RAP m usic influences culture. The a rt­ ists will be involved in the discus­ sion and copies o f their lyrics will be provided. A RAP forum will take place on the Rock Creek Cam pus, T hursday, Feb. 10 at noon in the Town H all, 17705 N.W . S p rin g v ille R d., and at Sylvania, 12000 S. W. 49th Ave., On Friday, Feb. 11 at noon in STA-1 of the CC B uilding. A n o th e r h ig h lig h t o f the month will be the “G ospel E xplo­ sion” on Saturday, Feb. 19, at V ancouver Avenue First B aptist Portland Community College celebrates Black History month districtwide during the month of February. A number of events are sponsored on PCC cam­ puses and in the community. (Please see the accompanying schedule for a listing of events.) The Theme for 1994 is “UMOJA.” PCC will sponsor a panel d is c u s s io n led by P o rtla n d ’s C h ie f o f P o lic e, Dr. C h arles M oose, on “ Personal Solutions to V iolence in the C om m unity.” on W ednesday, Feb. 2. C hief M oose will be joined by Halim R ahsan from the P ortland Youth Gang Program and Harold W il­ liam s, chair of P C C ’s Board of D irectors. This event is set at the C a s c a d e C a m p u s , 705 N. K illingsw orth, T errell Hall 122 C hurch. 3138 N. V ancouver, 7 p.m. G ospel music has been the foundation o f A m erican m usic, and its roots trace back directly to A fr ic a . D o n ’t m iss th is celebratory event! A t the C a sc a d e C am p u s Gym, PCC will host the Fifth Annual “ Black B usiness E x p o ,” Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 12 and 13. This event features b u si­ n e sse s from re ta il, s e rv ic e , w holesale, m anufacturing, c o n ­ struction and other industries tied to the A frican-A m erican com m unity. The expo is sch ed ­ uled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m . on S aturday, and 10 a.m . to 4 p.m . on Sunday. Contact Sonia Key-Fender, 244- 6111, ext. 4360, or Ken Adair, ext. 4535, for more information. Immaculate Heart Parish Mardi Gras Dance Wednesday, February 9, 1994, Immaculate Heart Church, invites you to attend a Louisiana style Mardi Gras Dance, at its Parish Hall located at 2926 N. Williams, featuring San Francisco’s Zydoco Flames. Come and hear this tight young quintet with its feet in the East Bay and it heart in Lafayette, La. Also to be noted, quite a few of Immaculate Heat’s members are from Lafayette, La., and they know how to get things going. This evening prom ises to be a very authentic Mardi Gras celebration, for those who have never been able to attend the famous celebration in New Orleans, La., we promise you a bit of those festivities right here in Portland, Oregon. The evening will not disappoint those who want to dance to Zydens music or learn the Louisiana two step and other Zydeoc dances. Come out and have some fun with us! The band fronted by a couple of guys who really love what they do, accordionist Bruce Grodoan and the washborad man Lloyd Meadows. Come, bring the family, wear a cos­ tume, get in the Mardi Gras Mood. PO ETR Y IN H O N O R OF B L A C K H IS T O R Y M O N T H WORDS OF WISDOM N ot a day passes by without me looking at the sky and thinking, why did Dr. M artin Luther King have to die? Some people wonder why people had to sit back and sigh, but for m e, I will always know why. Then they cried as the night went by and the Black people wondered if they were going to die. A t their surprise, Dr. King came and said, “O ur race will never die." But all who think Dr. M artin Luther King was the first one to speak ... well, you’re wrong. H e was just the first one to be heard. Jillian Murphy age 13 Portland, Oregon February Emerge Features The Quest For Justice As the accused murderer of civil criticizing my personal and profes­ rights worker Mcdgar Evers prepares sional com petence, which I felt to stand trial in several weeks, the weren’t being properly refuted by the February cover story of EMERGE: State Department or the White House. “In retrospect, when you look at Black A m erica’s Newsmagazine the initial news stories which were chronicles Myrlie Evers’ 30-year done on my appointment, the press struggle to see Byron dc la Beckwith said, 'H e’s college president and corpo­ convicted for her husband’s murder. In “ T ra ils and T rib u la tio n s ,” rate executive, but he has no foreign EMERGE contributing edi­ tor and Los Angeles Times columnist Karen Grigsby Bates recounts the tragedy of Medgar’s death and the de- tcrminationofhis widow not only to build prosperous lives for her remaining family,but to bring the accused mur­ derer to justice. Bates writes, “her 30-year journey to bring Byron dc la Beckwith, Evers’ accused killer, to justice has helped to transform how Mississippians - Black and White - view the adminis­ tration of justice in their state.” Bates reports that de la Beckwith is being tried a third time - the first two trials ended in deadlocked juries in 1964 — because of Evers’ tireless quest for evi­ dence and insistence that a reluctant state attorney gen­ eral reopen the case. “I’d promised Medgar that I will Myrlie Evers co n so les son, Darrell, during go the last mile of the way M edgar’s funeral. with him,” says Evers. “I can’t say I will have done that until policy experience,” ’ Wharton recalls. “They did not look further than this trial, whatever the outcome.” Also this month, former State that because they were thinking that Department Deputy Secretary Clifton here is a stereotypical minority ap­ R. Wharton Jr. gives his first inter­ pointment, not the appointment of an view since abruptly resigning his post individual who has any international in November. “I believed my effec­ experience. But the press made up tiveness had been comprom ised and I their minds that mine was a ’token’ was not willing to stay and watch it be appointment, and that was the way further eroded,” Wharton tells Lee A. they wrote about it.” In another ground-breaking Daniels, a former New York Times reporter who conducted the interview story, Cincinnati Enquirer columnist for EMERGE. “I would not say that Trevor W. Coleman reveals a Black mine was a 'forced’ resignation. It conservative conspiracy against the was a conscious decision on my part, NAACP. According to the article, due primarily to the fact that there several Black groups and individuals were successive leaks circulating, with right wing agendas are organiz­ ing to undermine the NAACP, the nation ’ s oldest and largest civil rights organization. One activist, Jackie Cissell, says, “The NAACP, without question, is outside the mainstream of the Black community on a lot o f the important issues, and if they are not going to represent our people, they need to quite running around with that banner.” NAACP President Ben Chavis tells EMERGE: “In fact. Black conservatives get more attention from White conservatives. They have very little impact on the black community, and m ost of them are taken as being po­ litical and social deviants - but they are taken seriously by White conservatives. It’s very interesting that a group that has no support in the Black community can get financing out side the com ­ munity to play a divisive role within the community.” And Roger Wilkins, a history professor and a former assistant U.S. attor­ ney general, comments: “Conservative White people are always trying to turn Black people into ventrilo­ quist dummies. “They want to pick our leaders, and they want to determine what is legitimate and not legitimate for us to say.” The February issue of EMERGE contains several other compelling articles, including the first extensive interview with George Haley since the death of his brother, Roots author Alex Haley, the last of a 2-part series on how proposed health care reforms will affect African-Americans, and an examination of First Amendment issues in light of a Black attorney’s defense of a Ku Klux Kian grand dragon in Texas. EM ERGE: Black A m erica’s Newsmagazine, based in Arlington, Va.,wasestablishcdin 1989.1thasan ABC-audited circulation of more than 150,000. Denise Crittendon Named Editor Of The Crisis Magazine First Woman in 84-Year History To Hold Post Presented bv ■0 BANK. THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH US Army Corps of Engineers Portland District The US Army Corps of Engineers is committed to developing The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. has named Denise Crittendon as editor of The Crisis Magazine-the oldest, continuously published, na­ tional African-American newsmaga­ zine in America. She becomes the first woman to serve as editor of the 84-year-old magazine, according to the publication’s new president and publisher, Gentry W. Trotter. The Crisis, which was founded in 1910bycivilrightsactivistW .B.E. DuBois, in previous years has been considered the official, national news organ of the National Association for The Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). However, in recent years the magazine has expanded beyond the N A ACP’s organ status and cover- age of civil rights news excessively; and today its coverage includes civil rights news, music, art, editorials, health, business, youth news and fash­ ion. Most recently the Crisis Maga­ zine has been placed on newsstands in may major cities across the country as a general African-American news magazine with an emphasis, A native of Detroit, Michigan, Crittendon was recently on staff at Wayne State University in Detroit as a journalism instructor before joining the Crisis staff. She has also taught at Central Michigan University in Mount pleasant, Michigan and Olivet Col- D a u g h t e r s O f S h in in g S t a r O f U n it y T e m p le #1379 I.B.P.O. Elks Of The World Event: Ethnic Disco Dance When: Saturday, February 19, 1994 Where: 6 N. Tillamook • Time: 9:00 P.M. To 2:00 A.M. Ethnic Fashions by Sheeba’s US Army Corps of Engineers • PO Box 2946 • Portland, Oregon 97208-2946 I i The Daughters O f Shining Star Of Unity Temple #1379 arc a one year old temple in The Billy Webb Improved, Benevolent, Protective Order O f Elks O f The World. The African/Amencan order was first bom in 1899 with an all male mem­ bership. The Auxiliary, known as the Daughters O f Elks was first or­ ganized on June 13, 1902. The I.B.P.O. Elks are the African/Ameri- can Temples Of Elkdom. The Afri- can/American Temples added the ‘B.P.’ to the initials I.B.P.O. These letters stand for Benevolent, Protec­ tive Order and Denotes not only its difference from White/American Elks Orders, But defines its place in the African/Amcrican Community. In times when no national system ex- isted. The Elks Lodges through pro­ ceeds from social, cultural and rec­ reational functions: supported the widow, unwed-mother, or burial of a community member. With a focus towards charity and education. The Daughters Of Shining Star Of Unity arc carrying forth with the mission, for the ‘Betterment Of The Commu­ nity’. «